Long-time Montreal broadcaster Michael Whalen has passed away at the age of 82.
A media mainstay in the city, Whalen worked for more than 20 years as TSN’s bureau reporter for Montreal and the province of Quebec from 1986 to 2007.
He worked at CBC Radio hosting a music program in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was one of the few reporters who interviewed John Lennon and Yoko Ono during their historic “Bed-in for Peace” at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel in 1969.
He was later a medical reporter at CFCF and worked on the program As It Is.
Whalen joined TSN just after its launch, becoming the network’s first permanent bureau reporter outside of Toronto in 1986.
In Montreal, Whalen covered the Canadiens extensively, including their Stanley Cup runs in 1986 and 1993, the closing of the Forum and the opening of the then-named Molson Centre, and the infamous Patrick Roy trade.
During the summers he covered the Montreal Expos – including the team’s incredible1994 run cut short by Major League Baseball’s player strike, right through the franchise’s move to Washington, D.C. 10 years later.
On the CFL beat, Whalen covered the demise and return of the Montreal Alouettes, including their Grey Cup championship in 2002.
Whalen is survived by his wife, Michele, their daughter Leah and stepson Nicko.
